The fight against COVID-19 continues in New Jersey and globally. With each day, tens of thousands of New Jersey residents get vaccinated and bring everyone one step closer to defeating the pandemic. Courtesy Tony Perry
By Allison Perrine
NEW JERSEY – It was an exciting weekend for young athletes and their parents and guardians after the state permitted the return of spectators at all indoor and outdoor high school and youth sporting events.
Gov. Phil Murphy said Wednesday, Feb. 17 during a routine press conference that based on the evidence the state has gathered about the events it was a “very good first weekend of competitions” and that school leaders and athletic directors worked hard to put proper protocols in place allowing for the admittance of spectators.
“Should a positive case arise from an event, all spectators will need to cooperate with contact tracing efforts,” Murphy said. “School districts retain the ability to be stricter and not allow any spectators at all should they choose. They can also choose when to implement this new spectator policy if they don’t feel that they’re ready to do so immediately.”
Murphy signed another executive order Wednesday extending the public health crisis in New Jersey for an additional 30 days. He has done this since March 2020 when the pandemic began and continues to do so in order to help distribute vaccines to high-risk individuals and provide second doses of vaccines to those eligible, among other protections.
Those currently eligible for the COVID-19 vaccination include anyone over 75, individuals ages 16 to 65 with chronic health conditions, health care workers, residents and staff of long-term care facilities and emergency response officials. More information is available at covid19.nj.gov/vaccine.
“Every single New Jerseyan who wants to be vaccinated will be vaccinated, but at the moment with only two approved vaccines currently on an emergency use basis at our disposal, we all need to continue to be patient as doses continue to roll out,” said Murphy.
As of Wednesday morning, Feb. 17, at least 1,470,941 doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered. Of that total, a little over 1 million have been first doses and the remaining have been second doses. That total increases by “several tens of thousands” each day and shows “consistent progress,” Murphy said.
“We know there remain many, many residents who want to be included in these numbers but aren’t yet because of the scarcity of the appointments due to the scarcity of vaccines. We hear you and we understand your anxiety,” he said. “We remain committed to doing everything we can to improve the platforms available for scheduling your vaccination appointment and we remain committed to working with the federal government to receiving every single dose we can and then maximizing those doses.
There have been at least 673,108 total positive PCR tests and 82,066 positive antigen rapid tests detecting traces of COVID-19 in the state. In hospitals statewide there were 2,370 patients being treated for the virus as of Feb. 16; 2,203 were known COVID-positive and the others were awaiting test results. There were 411 beds filled in intensive care units and 309 ventilators in use. The death toll from COVID-19 climbed to 20,343 in New Jersey, with an additional 2,289 probable deaths that have not been lab-confirmed.
In the Two River area specifically, the breakdown of cumulative positive COVID cases includes Atlantic Highlands, 240; Colts Neck, 760; Fair Haven, 325; Highlands, 267; Holmdel, 1,162; Little Silver, 437; Middletown, 4,446; Monmouth Beach, 245; Oceanport, 468; Red Bank, 1,405; Rumson, 475; Sea Bright, 106; Shrewsbury Borough, 431; and Tinton Falls, 1,314.
State Commissioner of the Department of Health Judy Persichilli said that though there are now multiple mutations of the COVID-19 virus, only one has been detected in New Jersey – the B.1.1.7 variant that first emerged in the United Kingdom. There were 50 cases of that variant statewide as of Wednesday, she said.
“As we have said before, getting as many individuals as possible vaccinated is vital to our fight against COVID-19. And this is particularly important given the concerns about the increasing number of mutations being seen in the virus,” she said. “Viruses constantly change or mutate and new variants of a virus are expected to occur over time. Sometimes new variants emerge and disappear. Other times new variants emerge and persist.”
When variant cases are confirmed, public health officials perform an investigation which includes contact tracing, Persichilli said. The individuals are then notified and advised to quarantine. So far, studies suggest the antibodies generated through vaccinations with the currently authorized vaccines “will continue to prevent serious illness and slow the spread of the virus,” she added.
And according to Murphy, if it weren’t for the variant, the state would likely be planning a much more “aggressive”…“fulsome series of steps to reopen over the next few weeks. But the variance sort of hangs over our head,” he said. “We know it’s more easily transmitted. We know the vaccines still work against…severe illness and death but they work less well than they do against the main virus. And the science is incomplete.”
Winter Storms Delay
COVID Vaccine Shipments
MONMOUTH COUNTY – Ice, shoveling, high winds and freezing temperatures are not the only challenges presented by the recent winter storms moving across the U.S. and New Jersey this year.
The storms are also delaying shipments of COVID-19 vaccines, forcing many vaccination sites to turn away patients and reschedule their vaccination appointments which for many were hard to secure in the first place.
“The County has been notified by the New Jersey Department of Health that vaccines will not be delivered on time due to the inclement weather in the South and Midwest,” said Monmouth County Commissioner director Thomas A. Arnone in a press release. “We apologize for this inconvenience to those with scheduled appointments.”
Anyone who was scheduled for a vaccine Wednesday should receive it Friday instead, at the same time and location as previously scheduled, either Brookdale Community College in Lincroft or at the Monmouth Count Agricultural Building in Freehold, said commissioner deputy director Sue Kiley.
She and the rest of the board of commissioners asked that no one visit a vaccination clinic without a confirmed appointment as there are no extra vaccines available at this time.
According to Judy Persichilli, state commissioner of the Department of Health, most sites in New Jersey have been using the inventory on-hand to ensure appointments are kept. But those without the supply have not been as fortunate. All vaccine sites are expected to now have plans in place for rescheduling appointments should they not have the sufficient inventory, she said. And with more snow in the forecast this week, all sites will have contingency plans in case they need to reschedule appointments.
For local updates, more information is available at the county’s COVID-19 vaccination website, visitmonmouth.com/health.
The article originally appeared in the February 18 – 24, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
